Heritage Brands South of the Mason-Dixon

By James H. Grant

Since I live in the Southeastern region of our country, I thought I would nominate some retailers I have known and patronized over the years as “Heritage Brands.” They are all exponents of the Ivy/Traditional/Collegiate style. Some have flourished for many years. Others enjoyed great success for a time but closed for various reasons. Perhaps other readers of Ivy Style will report on their favorite traditional stores in their region of the country.

Ben Silver, Charleston, SC

This store is a purveyor of the updated traditional aesthetic. The history of Ben Silver and how the name became associated with a haberdashery in Charleston is interesting, but the telling of that story will have to wait for another day. The present store was founded about 1980 by Bob and Sue Prenner. Since then, the store’s focus has changed from time to time, but Ben Silver has always been a significant exponent of high quality men’s and women’s clothing and accessories in the traditional British/American style. The store also is an active promoter of traditional eyewear. After the death of Mr. Prenner in 2025, Mrs. Prenner assumed the leadership of the company, and if their beautiful catalogs are any indication, the firm continues to prosper. In fact, I have been interested in men’s traditional clothing and accessories for over sixty years. I can say without a doubt that the Ben Silver catalogs are the best I have ever seen.

H. Stockton, Atlanta, GA

H. Stockton was founded in 1963 by Hamilton “Ham” Stockton in downtown Atlanta. From the day I arrived in Atlanta after graduating from college in 1972, until my wife and I moved to North Carolina in 1987, the H. Stockton branch store at Lenox Square was my go-to source for correct and proper traditional men’s clothing. The Lenox Square store was managed by the late Kent Brewer. Kent was a gentleman and a great salesman – never too busy to help a young man trying to get started in his career. I am sure he had many well-heeled customers, but he treated me as if I were one of them, even though I certainly was not. And he always remembered my name. Five years after we moved to North Carolina, my wife called Kent and ordered a Southwick navy blazer for my birthday. He knew the exact style I wanted and asked if I was still a 44-XL. She confirmed that I was. Kent said, “OK, I’ll have it shipped to you in North Carolina and you can call me with your credit card number when it arrives.” That was 35 years ago and I still wear the blazer today.

Julian’s, Chapel Hill, NC

Julian’s was founded by Maurice Julian in 1942, on Franklin Street adjacent to the campus of the University of North Carolina. I visited Julian’s once when my daughter was a student at UNC. I was in a hurry and did not have time to do much shopping, but I was there long enough to know that it was an excellent store in the updated traditional style. My son-in-law, who also graduated from UNC, purchased matching UNC ties from Julian’s for the groomsmen at his wedding to my daughter. It is frequently said that Maurice Julian, the owner of Julian’s, and his brother, Milton, the proprietor of Milton’s Clothing Cupboard (see below), along with the Hyman brothers at ELJO’s, in Charlottesville, VA, were responsible for bringing the Ivy League style to the southeastern USA in the 1950’s. Although I do not have any specific evidence to back this up, it would be my guess that they were certainly instrumental in that endeavor. The late Mr. Maurice Julian was the father of the noted New York based fashion designer, Alexander Julian.

M.S. McClellan, Knoxville, TN

Matthew McClellan founded the forerunner of M.S. McClellan at the University of Tennessee in 1966 as “the Hansom House” – probably a double-entendre for the adjective “handsome” and the traditional two-wheeled “hansom” carriage of the 19^th century. The store continues to flourish today in west Knoxville as the eponymous store of its founder. The haberdashery evolved over the years from the Ivy League style to updated traditional clothing and accessories for men and women. I do not know Mr. McClellan personally, although we were at the university at the same time. But I do know one thing for sure – he has excellent taste.

Wm. King Clothiers, Bristol, TN

William King founded Wm. King Clothiers on State Street in Bristol, Tennessee, in 1981. (Bristol is a twin-city situated on the state line between Virginia and Tennessee.) William is the son of Bill King who owned a traditional men’s store, Bill King Clothiers, on Moore Street, on the Virginia side of the city during 1950’s-1970’s (see below). I have never actually visited Wm. King Clothiers, but gauging from their website, it appears that the apple has not fallen far from the tree.

Jos. A. Bank, Baltimore, MD

Although its parent companies originated in the 19^th century, the Jos. A. Bank store most of us know was established after World War II. The store prospered in the Mid-Atlantic states around its home base of Baltimore until it blossomed on the national scene in the 1970’s–1990’s as a less expensive option for Ivy League-styled merchandise. They “knocked off” the three-button, natural shoulder suits and sport coats, and the 100% cotton poplin and seersucker summer suits popularized by Brooks Brothers, for considerably less money. In the 1990’s and early 2000’s, their inexpensive V-neck cashmere sweaters, in a good range of colors, were particularly popular. The sweaters lasted about two or three years – unless you owned a cat. The store continued to flourish as a catalog resource and in bricks-and-mortar retail stores into the 21^st century. But a series of behind-the-scenes upheavals culminated in the firm’s takeover by Men’s Wearhouse in 2014. Their demise was agonizingly slow and embarrassing, but they eventually sold out – both literally and figuratively.

Heritage Brands, No Longer in Business

Here are some heritage brands from the South which, sadly, are no longer in business.

Bill King Clothiers, Bristol, VA

This traditional Ivy League-styled store was founded by Bill King in the late 1950’s. The store flourished until the early 1970’s when men’s and women’s clothing preferences changed drastically during the Vietnam era. Mr. King was the consummate gentleman and had excellent taste. His store was always stocked with wonderful merchandise: Southwick suits and sport coats, Gant shirts, Cox Moore knitwear, Bass Weejuns^® and Alden shoes, London Fog outerwear and a beautiful complement of ties and accessories, as well as “ladies sportswear.” Bill King was a terrific salesman. His desk in the back office might have been piled high with purchase orders and invoices, but he took the time to assist a lanky, self-conscious teenager from rural southwest Virginia in learning about traditional clothing. He taught me that a gentleman’s tie should never hang below his belt buckle, and that the pants of his new “big boy” Southwick suit – the one I had just purchased for the astonishing price of $155.00 – should have one and three-quarter inch cuffs. In the 1970’s, instead of changing the merchandising focus of his store, he closed the business and founded Charter Data Systems, a company specializing in computer data processing for specialty retailers.

ELJO’s, Charlottesville, VA

ELJO’s was founded by Elliott and Joseph Hyman about 1950 and later owned and operated by Myles Thurston and his son, Trent. ELJO’s was situated for many years on a strategic corner at the University of Virginia. I purchased a pair of khaki pants and a navy tie with an orange stripe in that store over fifty years ago. I can still remember the stacks of pants arranged by waist size on long tables: khakis, white ducks, seersuckers, poplins and Madras. ELJO’s also had a great selection of ties, many in the university’s colors, dark blue and orange. The store served the students, faculty, alumni and other aficionados of the Ivy League-Collegiate style in the university community for 75 years before finally closing in 2025.

Milton’s Clothing Cupboard, Chapel Hill, NC

Milton’s was founded in 1948 by Milton Julian, the brother of Maurice Julian, who had another men’s clothing retail store nearby (see above). I purchased several OCBDs from Milton over sixty years ago. It was my impression at that time that Milton adhered to the “stack ‘em high and sell ‘em cheap” merchandising philosophy. He had other stores in Charlotte, Atlanta and Dallas. Milton’s first came to my attention in an advertisement in The New Yorker about 1963. His ads were always at the back of the magazine on the same page with Brooks Brothers, J. Press, Frank Brothers/Fenn-Feinstein, the original Abercrombie & Fitch and other prestigious purveyors of gentlemen’s furnishings. I suppose Milton subscribed to the old adage that a man (or his store) is known by the company he keeps. I knew a furniture manufacturer’s representative during my career, who had worked for Milton while he was a student at UNC. He said it was “pretty disorganized, but a lot of fun. Great place to meet girls.

The Gentry Ltd., Chattanooga, TN

The Gentry was owned and operated by a Jewish refugee, Mr. Arno Goldstein, who escaped Nazi Germany before World War II. He served in the U.S. Army during that war and in the Korean War, before settling in Chattanooga. The Gentry was an upscale purveyor of traditional Ivy League-styled merchandise. The firm operated from a small suite of rooms on the second floor of a downtown office building. It had no store front and no noticeable sign that I recall. My uncle, who was a good customer of Mr. Goldstein’s, laughingly called the store a “speakeasy,” due to its secluded location. But it was a great store! I think Mr. Goldstein was a tailor at heart and took great care to make sure his customer’s suits and sport coats were altered to perfection. I had a friend in college from Chattanooga, who said that The Gentry was so traditional that even the mice wore Weejuns^®. The Gentry closed circa 1993.

Georgetown University Shop, Washington D.C.

A great store back in the day! As the name suggests, it was a purveyor of traditional, Ivy-styled clothing to the students, professors and alumni of Georgetown University, as well as attorneys, businessmen, diplomats and congressmen in and around the Washington D.C. area. In the post-World War II era, it was known for the classic Ivy League style. In 1972, I took a test at Georgetown University to qualify for employment with one of our country’s top-secret security agencies. Since I was not fluent in any language other than English – and some of my professors would probably take issue with that – and since I probably did not do well on the test, I went to the Georgetown University Shop and bought a new tie. I hoped that might elevate my spirits. Unfortunately, it did not, so I walked down the street to The Tombs, the cellar bar at the famous 1789 Restaurant, and had a beer, maybe two. About two weeks later, I received a perfunctory boilerplate letter from the National Security Agency thanking me for taking the test but advising me that no job offer would be forthcoming. But fortunately, I had a back-up plan. I got a job as an executive trainee and assistant furniture buyer at Macy’s in Atlanta, the first step in my 35-year career in the furniture industry. The Georgetown University Shop eventually moved to Chevy Chase, MD, and finally closed in the early 2000s.

James H. Grant
“Never knowingly in fashion”